In vitro antifungal study of the efficacy of some plant extracts for inhibition of Alternaria carthami fungus

摘要

The antifungal activity of aqueous extracts of seven plant species, viz. bulbs of Garlic ( Allium sativum Linn.) and leaves of Datura ( Datura metel Linn.), Lantana ( Lantana camara Linn.), Eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus hybrid), Neem ( Azadirachta indica A. Juss.), Madagascar periwinkle ( Catharanthus roseus G. Don) and Holy basil ( Ocimum sanctum Linn.) against safflower leaf spot disease-causing fungus, Alternaria carthami , under in vitro conditions was investigated. Linear growth reduction of the pathogen on PDA plates at 20% plant extract concentration was recorded seven days after inoculation. A . sativum bulb extract exhibited maximum inhibition of the pathogenic fungus (48.68%) followed by D . metel (44.25%), while O . sanctum extract showed the least inhibitory effect (25.02%). The observations indicate the efficacy of aqueous plant extracts as potential inhibitors of Alternaria carthami .